BCEA’s ‘Salary Day Support’ event draws crowd

November 5, 2013

MARTINSBURG - It was standing room only at Monday night's Berkeley County Board of Education meeting, thanks to approximately 125 teachers who came to the session as requested by their local union leaders.

For about a month, Berkeley County Education Association officials and members had been urging teachers to attend the meeting as a way of showing their support for a proposed, statewide pay increase.

That campaign was rolled out earlier this fall by the West Virginia Education Association and focuses on the need to raise teachers salaries so they are competitive with other states. According to WVEA data, state teachers' pay now ranks 48th in the nation.

Article Photos

Journal photo by Jenni Vincent Approximately 125 teachers came out for the Berkeley County Education Association’s “Salary Day Support” event, which focused on garnering support for a statewide pay increase from local board of education members.

BCEA President Wendy Bird said she was happy with attendance and feels good about board members possibly signing a resolution she presented to them as part of the outreach event.

During her presentation, Bird said local affiliates in other counties are asking for similar support from their boards of education. Once signed, the resolutions will be sent to Charleston to be shared with state legislators and Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, she said.

"Our goal is to influence the governor and the legislature to create a multi-year pay plan to get us to a competitive level and to maintain that ranking. We need your assistance in voicing our concerns to our elected leaders," Bird said.

Due to limited seating, some teachers spilled out into an adjacent hallway while others braved the chilly night air to show their support in the parking lot. After Bird finished speaking, she received applause from audience members and those listening outside.

Speaking after the session, superintendent Manny Arvon said he hadn't yet read the resolution closely but didn't believe it would be a problem for board members to sign it.

During the meeting, Arvon also pointed out that board members have historically done whatever was possible to increase teacher salaries, because they realize the need to be competitive in order to retain quality employees.

"We never had to twist the arms of board members when it came to talking about compensation for our employees," he said.

Although growing areas like Berkeley County have advocated for locality pay, Arvon said he couldn't remember another time when all 55 West Virginia counties had worked cooperatively on this kind of competitive pay proposal.

"It is most important that we work together on anything we can do to compensate our educators," Arvon said.

Board President Dr. Bill Queen, speaking after the meeting, also praised local teachers for taking part in this statewide effort.

"I really do think it is wonderful they are here. But this board - and it goes way back, when I first came on it about 18 years ago - as well as this administration has always looked out for teachers as much as we possibly can. Unfortunately the state's economy has not always been what we would like it to be and as a result you see that reflected in salaries around the state. Locally, however, we've done everything possible to keep salaries and benefits in line," Queen said.

Cheryl Jenkins, a special education teacher at North Middle School with 30 years of experience, was one of the first to arrive at the meeting. "I just think this is very important. We work very hard in Berkeley County and we do need a pay raise," she said.

Mountain Ridge Intermediate counselor Jason Brier said he believes the "pay inequity in the country is pretty ridiculous, especially when we are so close to other states that pay a lot more."

Sadly, state salaries don't give an adequate representation of the school system or teachers who work here, he said.

"I really think West Virginia is on the cusp of a lot of 21st century teaching techniques, at least that's what I've seen when I go out of state to conferences and see how we compare with elsewhere in terms of what is actually being done in the classrooms," Brier said.